Oconee BOE revisits OCAF building transfer

Board considers steps to boost SAT scores

Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2000

By Kevin ConnerStaff Writer

WATKINSVILLE -- A contract between the Oconee County Board of Education and the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation will be modified to delineate what will happen with three old school buildings purchased by the foundation, if the group should disband.

Oconee County Schools Superintendent Shannon Adams said prior to Monday night's school board meeting that a provision will be inserted into the contract requiring OCAF to transfer the buildings back to the school system if it disbands.

''It will be squared away by next month,'' Adams said.

Two years ago, the school board sold an old school house, kindergarten building and gymnasium, all on School Street, to OCAF, a Watkinsville organization that promotes the arts.

Because state law prohibited a no-cost transfer, the board charged OCAF $400 per building.

Roy Ward, an arts enthusiast and retired Watkinsville physician, raised questions Monday about what would happen to the buildings if the arts organization disbanded.

Ward noted Monday that the contract between the board and the foundation makes no mention of the buildings' fate if OCAF disbands.

Ward was concerned that if OCAF disbanded, the buildings could be sold and a profit could be made by individuals outside the school system.

Doug Eza, director of operations for Oconee County schools, said prior to Monday's board meeting that the failure to include anything in the contract about the buildings' fate in the event that OCAF disbanded, or no longer needed the buildings, was an oversight.

In general, according to Eza, the school system's view of the transaction was that the school district ''had no need for them (the buildings) and the board saw them as a community resource that could be maintained at OCAF's expense.''

During Monday's board meeting, Ward also asked who would collect insurance money should the building burn down. Board members told Ward they would respond to that inquiry at a later date.

In other business Monday night, the board heard a report from Randy Morrison, the school system's director of instruction, about standardized test scores.

Morrison's report noted that graduation test results at Oconee County High School have shown an overall improvement.

Morrison also said the system placed in the upper 70th percentile compared to the national average on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, a series of tests given to students in grades 1-8.

Morrison's presentation did not emphasize that average overall SAT scores at Oconee County High School have dropped 30 points within the last two years. For the 1999-2000 school year, the average Oconee SAT score was 985 -- 34 points below the national average.

''It's remarkable that our kids do good on every test we give them, but the SAT scores keep going down,'' said board member John Glisson.

Morrison also addressed the annual statewide ''report card'' from the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which compares test scores statewide, and also notes poverty levels in the state's school systems.

Since poverty levels can serve as an indicator of test performance, Morrison compared Oconee's overall test scores to those of systems with similar poverty levels. He told the school board Monday that Oconee County is about ''mid-range'' in that comparison.

''Overall, I'm happy with the way our students are achieving, but I know when we examine the data closer and compare to schools across the nation or schools with demographics similar to us, we find areas we need to work on,'' Morrison said.

An action plan to improve students' scores could include beefing up curriculum in English, science, math and social studies, Morrison suggested.

''We need to set clear guidelines and clear curriculum in the classroom,'' he said. ''We need to make sure we're teaching application of the content. We've got to help our students think critically to evaluate and analyze the material.''

Oconee County reporter Kevin Conner can be reached at kconner@onlineathens.com or (706) 769-9126.